Another dubious claim to No. 1 for Pennsylvania

As West Chester University considers moving from state-owned to state-related status, its students — present and future — ought to take a hard look at the U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency list.

What they will find is that while state-related status may be beneficial for administrators, it’s no bargain for students.

According to the U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency list, Pennsylvania’s state-related schools have the highest tuition in the land. The main campuses of the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State are the two most expensive public universities in the United States in terms of tuition and required fees.

The University of Pittsburgh ranks first with tuition and fees of $16,590 — $146 more than No. 2 Penn State. Temple University is sixth at $13,596. All three are state-related schools.

Advertisement

In fact, fully half of the costliest public school tuitions — 17 of the 34 public institutions listed (including 15 Penn State campuses) — are Pennsylvania schools.

Just how out-of-line are those numbers? The national average tuition for a public university is $7,407.

The high cost of tuition is attributable to a variety of factors. But one thing all administrators point to is the reduced level of state support.

A spokesman for the University of Pittsburgh told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the high cost of tuition for the state-related schools “is related directly to the fact that Pennsylvania continues to provide substantially less support for public higher education that other states, passing more of the cost on to students and their families.”

And it’s not likely to get any better. The Republican-approved state budget includes no additional funds for the state-related universities.

Adjusted for inflation, state support for Pitt and Penn State is at its lowest level since the 1960s.

It is a familiar refrain.

Miami University, in Ohio, has the highest net price of four-year public institutions at $24,674. Penn State is second at $22,560, which is nearly double the national average.

A spokeswoman for Miami University said, “It’s a telling sign that the states that are not able to spend as much as others are the ones on this list.”

Pennsylvania also is well-represented on the list of most-expensive private nonprofit universities. Seven of the top 65 private universities make the list including No. 7 Carnegie Mellon ($45,760 tuition and fees); No. 10 Bucknell ($45,378) and Franklin & Marshall College ($44,360).

There are a number of steps West Chest Chester — and perhaps other state-owned universities — would have to undertake before it could leave the State System of Higher Education, including repaying the state for buildings and equipment.

And school officials acknowledge that tuition and fees would likely increase. How much is unknown.

What is known is that cost of tuition and fees for full-time students at West Chester in the year just ended was $8,850 — nearly half the amount charged by Pitt and Penn State.